Book · 50 min read

Founding Sales, Chapter 11: High-Impact Sales Hiring

Peter Kazanjy · Founding Sales Free Intermediate

The most detailed free writeup of an actual sales hiring process: the profile, artifact-based screening before you spend live time, the mock pitch stage, and what to pay. Free to read online, no signup.

  • Staffing agencies take 20 to 30 percent of the candidate's first-year salary.
  • Bay Area SDR roles run 45K to 55K base with 65K to 75K OTE; new-business AEs sit at a 50/50 base to commission split.
  • Keep total cost of sales under about 20 percent of the revenue it closes.
  • Pay a 2,500 to 5,000 dollar referral bonus, and run agencies one resume in, one out to hold quality.
Open on foundingsales.com ↗

It answers 4 questions

  1. What does a good first sales hire actually look like, and what should I not fall for?
  2. I have been offered the first sales hire job at a startup. What should I check before I say yes?
  3. How do I interview a salesperson when I have never sold for a living?
  4. What did HubSpot learn about which sales candidates actually succeed, and does it hold up?

Read with it

  1. Ten specific, named mistakes rather than principles, including hiring a VP of Sales too early and letting a bad rep linger past... SaaStr Podcast · 30 min listen SaaStr Podcast #379: The Top 10 Mistakes Founders Make When Hiring Their First Sales Team Jason Lemkin
  2. The source of the hiring scorecard: outcomes and competencies written before you meet anyone, then structured interviews... ghSMART Book · Book Who: The A Method for Hiring Geoff Smart and Randy Street
  3. Video · 2 hr watch Building a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr) Lenny Rachitsky and Jason Lemkin
  4. The clearest arithmetic anywhere on rep economics: the rule of 10 for quota against base, four months to productivity, draws... Craft Ventures Essay · 12 min read Simple Math to Set Up a Sales Team David Sacks
  5. Written for Indian SaaS founders by the Everstage CEO, ex Freshworks. It gives the working numbers: quota period must be at... SaaSBoomi Article · 10 min read Getting the Quotas Right for Your SaaS Sales Teams Siva Rajamani
  6. Indian founders comparing notes on hiring for grit and coachability over resumes, and on what it really costs to sell into the... SaaSBoomi Article · 8 min read How to Scale Efficiently: Strategies, Pitfalls, and Success Stories from SaaSBoomi's Playbook Roundtables SaaSBoomi
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